Connect with us

Rockets

5 biggest NBA Draft busts in Houston Rockets history

Rockets

If you think about it, screwing the pooch in the NBA Draft is quite normal. That’s because people can only speculate on a player’s potential heading into a league of trained professionals. Essentially, it’s almost even a casino as you just hope that you bet on the right players to include in your team. Therefore, there’s always going to be winners and losers in such a speculative game. The Houston Rockets have had its fair share of losers in this game and here we take a look at the five biggest NBA Draft busts in Rockets history.

5. Joel Przybilla (2000)

This guy literally didn’t even get to play for the Rockets. The team could have done so much better with the ninth overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. The lousy backup center averaged a lowly 3.9 points and 6.2 boards throughout his entire 15-year career. If you’re asking who they could have taken instead, Hedo Turkoglu and Michael Redd were still on the board. That’s tough.

4. Luther Head (2005)

To be fair, it gets pretty hard to find good talent by the time you reach the 24th overall pick. Here, the Rockets selected Luther Head back in 2005. He only averaged 8.2 points and 2.1 dimes before leaving the league in just six seasons. They passed on a ton of great picks such as Lou Williams, David Lee, and Monta Ellis. Oh well.

3. Bostjan Nachbar (2002)

Who? Bostjan Nachbar was the 15th pick overall in the 2002 NBA Draft. It’s also worth mentioning that Houston snatched up a franchise player in Yao Ming earlier in the draft, so they get a bit of a pass in this particular pick. Nevertheless, Nachbar only averaged over seven points per game in just three seasons with the Rockets, and then later on exited the league after a total of eight seasons. In addition, the Rockets missed out on Carlos Boozer and Tayshaun Prince. Yikes.

2. Royce White (2012)

When a draft is loaded, picking someone from the bunch should just be like shooting fish in a barrel; it’s hard to miss. Be that as it may, the organization still missed back in 2012 with the 16th overall pick. Not only did Royce White never have a chance to don the red and white, but he also literally only played three games without even recording an actual statline. The front office could have gone with a plethora of talented players like Khris Middleton, Draymond Green, Jae Crowder, and Will Barton. Crazy.

1. Marcus Morris (2011)

Before you give a violent reaction, Marcus Morris is definitely not a complete flop, especially considering his improvement over the years. As a matter of fact, he’s actually a decent rotation player. However, if you look at the opportunity cost, you’ll understand why he ranks first in this list. As the 14th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Marcus Morris dished out 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in his tenure in Houston. Those stats aren’t terrible by any means, but they lost the opportunity to land Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler. Even if they dropped the ball on those two, Nikola Vucevic, Isaiah Thomas, and Tobias Harris would have still been available. Ouch.

The post 5 biggest NBA Draft busts in Houston Rockets history appeared first on ClutchPoints.

More in Rockets